The Tragic Story Of James King From My 600-Lb Life

"My 600-lb Life" follows the journey of morbidly obese individuals as they set out to lose weight. According to UPMC, someone is considered "morbidly obese" if their weight is more than 80 to 100 pounds above what's considered their "ideal body weight." As viewers are well aware, most contestants on "My 600-lb Life" start the show around 600 pounds and hope that by the end of their time with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, aka "Dr. Now," they will be able to shed the pounds for good.

Sadly, not all "My 600-lb Life" participants succeed on their quest to lose weight. In fact, a handful of contestants from the show have died since filming. While it's true that someone who weighs as much as 600 pounds may be at risk during or after surgery, it's also true that many of these deaths have resulted in lawsuits, accusing the show's lead doctor, Dr. Nowzaradan, of malpractice. In this particular case, a patient died three years after taking part in the show, and even gained weight during the filming process. 

On his episode of "My 600-lb Life," James King revealed that he was mostly raised by his father. After his dad remarried, their family expanded, making things particularly difficult because King's father didn't have the resources to provide for what now eight children. "So I just started to eat as much as I could when I got the chance," King revealed on his episode.

King explained that he was around 250 pounds when he started high school, and when he was 15, he reconnected with his mother. Shortly thereafter, his mother passed away and their family home was burned to the ground. "I lost about everything I had in a single day," he explained. King described that as the turning point, and the moment from which he began relying heavily on food to cope.

The Cinemaholic reported that King was the heaviest patient in the history of the show and gained weight over the course of his time with Dr. Now. He started the filming process at 735 pounds and rose to 788.6 pounds. According to the outlet, King was supposed to be on-camera for one year — during that time he was ordered to follow an 800-calories-a-day diet plan — but was "dismissed" from the show after 11 months because he was supposedly not cooperating with Dr. Now's weight-loss regimen. 

When he appeared on "My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now," per The Cinemaholic, James King weighed in at 840 pounds. The outlet wrote that he was plagued with health issues including sepsis, liver cirrhosis, kidney failure, high blood pressure, leg infections, anemia, and cellulitis. King even launched a GoFundMe page after landing in the ICU to help pay for his groceries and rent, according to the outlet.

In April 2020, The U.S. Sun sadly reported that King had died. He passed away at age 49 at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. A source told the outlet that King went into septic shock, adding, "He died of kidney failure. He has been suffering, but now he is no longer in pain." Since the episode aired, an inside source said that King had lost 340 pounds. "He weighed about 500 pounds when he passed away. He would have been proud of himself," the same source told The Sun.